Extraction Technologies For Medicinal And Aromatic Plants - Unido
Extraction Technologies For Medicinal And Aromatic Plants - Unido
Extraction Technologies For Medicinal And Aromatic Plants - Unido
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7 DISTILLATION TECHNOLOGY FOR ESSENTIAL OILS<br />
still must be higher than the temperature at which the oil boils in the presence<br />
of water on the surface of the plant material, otherwise there would<br />
not be a temperature gradient to take the latent heat from the condensing<br />
steam to vaporize the oil droplet. Thus, the energy from the steam in form<br />
of heat as latent heat of vaporization converts the oil into a vapor. But, as<br />
the boiling point of the oil is higher than that of water, the vaporization takes<br />
place with steam on the basis of their relative vapor pressures.<br />
It is imperative to note that a liquid always boils at the temperature<br />
at which its vapor pressure equals the atmospheric or surrounding<br />
pressure. <strong>For</strong> any two immiscible liquids, the total vapor pressure of<br />
the mixture is always equal to the sum of their partial pressures. The<br />
composition of the mixture in the vapor phase (in this case, oil and water)<br />
is determined by the concentration of the individual components multiplied<br />
by their respective partial pressures. <strong>For</strong> example, if a sample of<br />
an essential oil comprised of component A (boiling point, 190° C) and<br />
water (boiling point, 100° C) is boiled, after some time, once their vapors<br />
reach saturation, the temperature will immediately drop to 99.5° C, which<br />
is the temperature at which the sum of the two vapor pressures equals<br />
760 mmHg. In other words, the oil forms an azeotropic mixture with water.<br />
Thus, any essential oil having high boiling point can be evaporated with<br />
steam in a ratio such that their combined vapor pressures equal the atmospheric<br />
pressure; the essential oil can be recovered from the plant by<br />
the wet distillation process.<br />
7.3 Methods for Distillation<br />
The following four techniques for the distillation of essential<br />
oils from aromatic plants are employed:<br />
1. Water distillation (or hydrodistillation)<br />
2. Water and steam distillation<br />
3. Direct steam distillation<br />
4. Distillation with cohobation<br />
7.3.1 Hydrodistillation<br />
Hydrodistillation is the simplest and oldest process available<br />
for obtaining essential oils from plants. Hydrodistillation differs from steam<br />
distillation mainly in that the plant material is almost entirely covered with<br />
water in the still which is placed on a furnace. An important factor to consider<br />
in water distillation is that the water present in the tank must always be<br />
enough to last throughout the distillation process, otherwise the plant material<br />
may overheat and char. In this method, water is made to boil and the<br />
essential oil is carried over to condenser with the steam which is formed.<br />
Water-distilled oil is slightly darker in color and has much stronger still notes<br />
than oils produced by other methods. The stills based on this principle are<br />
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